


a place to hide

by kintou



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Oneshot, banana fish fluff, banana fish oneshot, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 04:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18087671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kintou/pseuds/kintou
Summary: Running out of options, Ash runs into a coffeeshop to hide from the guys chasing him. What he hadn't expected is that the cute barista would shield him, and would make him feel safer than he had felt in a long time.(Soft and sweet, because honestly: we all need some healing after that ending.)





	a place to hide

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate universe in which Ash is a small criminal, strong but not really doing much, and Eiji is a coffee shop owner.

He moved quick. That’s the first thing I noticed. He walked in and disappeared into the back of the shop before I could say anything to him. In that glimpse he was beautiful. I saw his blonde locks, his straight posture, serious face. That’s why I noticed him; because he was beautiful.

I’d have to go take his order anyway. I didn’t try to follow him; he was sitting in the back of our deep shop, and he’d drink his coffee there. I’d get the chance to look at him.

That’s what I thought. Though, seconds after he had come in, two big guys walked in in a hurry. ‘Fuck, I don’t see him.’  They said loudly. They looked around, didn’t mind the fact that they were in a coffee shop. Assuming that they came for the beautiful man, I walked away from the counter and stood in front of them. My hands were trembling. I just hoped you wouldn’t be able to hear in it my voice. ‘Excuse me, can I help you?’  I tried my best to sound nothing but unamused at the men disturbing the people drinking coffee. This was my shop. I was the boss here.

Breath in, breath out, I was allowed to say stuff like this.

‘We’re looking for someone. Blonde guy in a blue hoodie.’  

‘I haven’t seen someone like that. Now I’d like you to leave this shop please, you’re disturbing the customers.’  

‘Let us look.’

I swallowed. Shit. ‘No, you’re disturbing my store and I won’t allow you to just look around when I have done absolutely nothing.’’  

They pushed my aside for a bit. Looked into the shop. I felt blood rush to my face. That’s where the beautiful guy went. ‘Don’t see him.’  The big guy told his friend.

‘I don’t know why he’d be here. Please leave.’  

The guy frowned, snorted, but then turned around without saying another word. They walked outside with big steps, talking about where to look next.

They didn’t even close the damn door.

‘Really?’ I whispered under my breath, moving to close the door myself, the shop’s old bell ringing softly.  Customers were looking at me. I smiled sheepishly and mumbled: ‘Sorry for that.’ They shook their heads and went back to their warm drinks.

With that I walked towards the back of the store, looked around; he really wasn’t there. I slowly walked to the toilet, which was in the back of the store too. I opened the interconnecting door. Right. The sign was on red, the door closed.  ‘Eh- Hello?’ No answer. What had I expected? ‘Those guys.. The ones that were looking for you, they left.’ Still nothing. ‘You can come drink some coffee. Coast is clear.’

When I didn’t get an answer again I walked back into the store, to the counter, and helped people who were waiting in front of it.

‘How was the coffee?’  I asked. They laughed and complimented the taste. They liked the _Mochi_ my shop offered, had never had any before. It was the usual thing. Nothing special. Still the guy in my toilet made me nervous.

The shop became a bit calmer quickly, most customers left around four. Eventually, though, almost fifteen minutes after I had gone to the toilet, the guy came out. He casually walked towards the bar that was apart of the counter and sat down. He leaned on his hands and looked at me smoothly. Didn’t shy away when I looked back at him.

‘Hey,’  I said.

‘Hello. Can I have a coffee?’  

‘That’s it?’  

‘What?’  

‘No _Thank you_ or something?’  

‘For what?’  

I raised an eyebrow. ‘Nevermind.’  He’d have to mean it or I didn’t want his gratitude. ‘Coffee it is.’  

I took a filter and some coffee beans. I always made all the coffee by hand, but I made his extra carefully; wanted it to be the best damn coffee he had ever tasted. I moved smoothly and I knew it. This was what I was good at.

The guy’s bright green eyes were burning into me. He was watching me closely, studying my every move.

‘Sorry.’  he said after a while. I looked up at him. He still looked cocky.

‘I don’t mind. I don’t want a sorry.’ I put one piece of mochi, sesame, next to his coffee cup.

‘But you just said-’

‘A thank you, I’d like a thank you.’  

I put the coffee down in front of him. He was smiling now. ‘Thank you.’  He made it sound like he was talking about the coffee.

‘For the coffee?’  

He put a hand in his hair, smiled almost shyly. ‘That too. Mainly for speaking up to me.’  

I made myself a cup of coffee too, didn’t answer him right away. I thought about what he had said. Did people usually not speak up to him? Sure, he was quite intimidating, but he didn’t look like a bad guy.

My coffee was slowly dripping into its cup. I sat down in front of him. ‘Do people usually not speak up to you?’

‘Buff aggressive assholes do.’  he mumbled.

I chuckled. ‘Sorry, I can’t say that I’m a buff asshole. Just a thin barista.’

The guy leaned over the bar, sipped his coffee slowly. I couldn’t tell if he was enjoying the coffee. ‘Way better.’  

‘Yeah?’

He nodded. ‘You look really cute but you really stood up against those assholes back there too.’  So he had heard that?

‘I was scared shitless.’  

The guy smirked. ‘Even better. Most people do it the other way around.’  He put down his coffee up, then offered his right hand to me. I took it firmly. ‘I’m Ash,’  he said.

‘Nice to meet you. I’m Eiji.’

‘Thanks, Eiji.’

‘You’re welcome to come hide here anytime,’  I joked.

He raised one eyebrow. ‘Good to know.’  With that he stood up, threw the last bit of coffee into his throat, and put on a pair of sunglasses he had in his pocket. ‘Now.. I’ve got places to be and people to see, bye.’  
That was it. With that he just left, walked out confidently. He was smirking when he turned his face away from me. He swung his hips, as if he wanted me to look at his ass. I did. Shame on me, I did.

It made my blood rise to my head.

It made me hot and bothered  enough to distract me from the fact he hadn’t paid for his coffee.

 

It only took Ash two days to return. He walked into the shop like he owned the place. He took off his sunglasses, grinned confidently. He took place at the bar again, absolutely not avoiding me. As if he hadn’t basically stolen coffee that last time. Then again, I couldn’t be mad about it even if I tried.  
‘Hey,’ he said grinning.

‘Hi. Here to pay for your coffee?’  

‘Definitely not. Can I have espresso?’ I could see he was enjoying this. He was hiding his smile by biting on his lip, but his eyes were bright. He was feeling good; it was written all over his face. It made me lightheaded.

‘Definitely...’ I threw his words back at him, made him think I’d try to say no. Then I turned around too, smiling. I felt his eyes burn into my back.

‘So.. Eiji, is that Japanese?’  

‘Yes.’  

‘And that shit you gave me with my coffee last time?’  

‘Mochi?’

‘Gezundheid.’  

I rolled my eyes, couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yes, the snack is Japanese too.’

‘You already told me the snack is Japanese.’

I raised an eyebrow. He was grinning so damn satisfied at his own joke, that I couldn’t help but crack a smile. ‘Really?’  

‘So mochi, you like that?’  

I laughed. ‘Are you always this cheesy?’  

‘Absolutely not. I’m usually kind of scary.’  

I put his espresso on the bar, mochi and a glass of water next to it.  ‘Could have fooled me.’

‘You mean I don’t look intimidating to you?’

I leaned on the bar as well, stared at him. ‘Hm.. not to me.’  

Ash smiled. He almost seemed shy now. It was such a huge difference to how he looked when everyone was looking at him. ‘So, tell me about the mochi?’

‘It’s a popular snack in Japan. It’s made from sticky rice, and some kind of tastemaker. The one you had last time was sesame. That’s my favourite.’

‘And this one?’ He pointed to his plate.

‘Matcha.’

He nodded. Then he slowly took a bite. ‘Weird.’

‘I guess it is.’  

 

We chatted for a bit longer, until the shop was getting busier. When I was helping other customers he got out a thick old book and started reading. He crossed, and wrote on the pages when he thought something about it. He folded some page. Sometimes I’d see him smile, when the words in the book really hit him.

‘What are you reading?’

‘Camus.’  He didn’t look up at me, finished the sentence he was reading.

‘Interesting?’  

He pulled a line underneath the sentence he had just read. ‘Hm.. yeah. ‘

I started making him another coffee, without him asking for it. I just wanted him to stay in the shop a little longer. I liked his presence. I wanted to know more about the mysterious guy. Why had he been running away from those men? Why did he look so lonely in his cockiness?

I stared at him while I waited for the coffee to finish dripping into the cup. He frowned at the book. It made my heart beat faster. _Albert Camus._ The book said. The cover was a brownish- Wait- ‘Ash, is that a book from the public library?’  

‘What?- Oh- yeah. I guess.’  

I breath in. Wondering if I should say something about that. Then I decided: who the hell cares. No one would read it with the kind of passion Ash had when reading this book. So, so what.

‘You know.. I have a bookcase in the back of the store with books people can read here. Maybe you like some of those?’  

‘Hm..I saw.. those books are shit.’  

I chuckled. ‘I don’t know much about Western books.’

Ash looked at me. I wondered if he wanted to tell me about the books. If I’d get him to talk to me as passionately as he was reading, it would make me so damn happy.

‘But maybe,’  I continued. ‘You can recommend me some books.. so I can get them for the bookcase.’

He perked up, smiled.

I swear, that smile was so genuine that my heart fell into my stomach that second. ‘I might have some recommendations.’

  


‘Hey, did you wait long?’

‘Don’t worry, studying people who walk by is my favourite thing to do.’  

‘I can’t even tell if you’re joking.’  

He chuckled, took his sunglasses off and put them inside of his pocket. ‘Let’s go.’ He started walking towards the bookstore. He was swaying his hips again.

‘Coming, _boss_ .’ I followed close behind him, walked into the enormous bookstore.  
Ash looked like he knew where he was going. That made me wonder if he had stolen from this bookstore as well. When I fell behind Ash waited up for me, mumbled something about me being slow. I caught up with him. ‘Do you come here a lot?’

He walked shoulder to shoulder with me. ‘Hm. Never been here before.’

I stared at him, trying to see if he was serious. He wasn’t minding me, he looked around the store. He was dead serious. I chuckled. ‘You look like you know the place.’

‘Well.. this is my city.’  

‘But you’ve never been here, right?’

‘Always go to the public library. You got a problem?’  

I grinned at him. ‘Not at all. Let’s explore together.’

He raised one eyebrow. ‘Explore?’

‘What, are you too cool for that?’  

He snorted. ‘Nah, fine. Let’s go, _Columbus._ ’ He took me by the arm and pulled me towards the stairs. There was a sign saying ‘ _classic literature, filosophy, religious, second hand_.’ I guess that was right up Ash’s street.

‘ _Columbus?’_

Ahs didn’t bother replying to me. He dragged me up the stairs, and as soon as he saw all those enormous bookcases, he seemed to light up. He took the first book he saw into his hand and nodded. Then the next one, one book after another. He read the backs, told me that he had heard about some of the books, said he had read some of them and really needed them in the shop, told me about books he had read when he was a lot younger.

I wanted him to go on forever. I encouraged him. Every time he picked up a new book I’d ask him what it was about, or when I held a book myself I’d ask his opinion.

‘So- what’s your special book?’ he asked me at some point.

I loved how he didn’t ask for my favourite book, but for my special one. ‘It’s Japanese.’

‘So? Must be translated.’  

‘A book by Yasunari Kawabata. It’s called.. Hmm.. _Yuki-’_

Before I could even finish, Ash was walking towards one of the workers and asked her about Yasunari Kawabata. I wondered if he had remembered the name correctly, didn’t know back then that Ash remembered every little thing. Always.

Ash smiled a business smile at the lady. That made me feel glad; he had some kind of special smile for me. That’s what it felt like.. just a little special.

‘Eiji!’ Ash’s voice snapped me out of my gaze. ‘The guy’s freaking famous.’  He walked towards a table and picked up the first book he saw. ‘ _Snow county,_ hm?’  

I walked up to him quickly. ‘That’s it.’

Ash read the back of that book, concentrated. While he was doing that I felt like I was showing him a special part of me. Like he was looking right through me.  ‘Let’s take it.’ he whispered, as if suddenly, we were very close.

‘Yeah?’  

‘I want to read it.’  

‘Alright… Ash.’

Ash smiled softly. He handed the book to me and touched my hand when he did. He didn’t pull back. When our fingers hit he started moving slower, made sure that the touch didn’t go unnoticed. ‘This better be good.’  

 

Those next days Ash came to the shop every day. He first started reading _Yukiguni._ He picked it from the now full bookshelf, moved to the bar, and sat down with the book already open. Once again, like he lived here. I caught myself wishing he did. Wishing that when the store’d close, he’d come upstairs to my house with me so that we could eat dinner together.

For now this was enough. I worked while he read the book. I made the steaming hot coffee and smiled at my customers. He read, made the air his. I fell in love with Ash, looking at him sitting at my bar.

Ash, who’d curse when something bad happened in a book.

Ash, who over analyzes everything in every book (or situation). Who finally had me realising he was a genius.

But also Ash, who told me very little about his personal life. Who had me nervous enough not to ask him about it. Who took every coffee for free, stole books, and who had been chased by big guys that looked like they wanted to kill him.

I couldn’t help but fall in love with everything about the blonde boy. The beautiful man was just reading, drinking coffee; he was feeling safe, I could see it. He made me feel safe. He made me feel more at home in America than I had felt since I moved.

‘Ash?’  

‘Hm?’  

‘Where do you live, in this city?’

He looked up from his book for a second, I was cleaning the counter so I didn’t have to look him into his eyes. ‘Everywhere. This whole city is mine.’

‘On the street?’ I sounded too surprised, too much like I was judging him.

‘No.. At different people’s places, sometimes hangouts, most of the time with my buddy Shorter.’  I breath in deeply, a little reassured. ‘But when everything goes wrong, can’t help but sleep at random places.’

I wondered if he slept over at houses he didn’t know. I wondered if he had slept on the street. ‘Ash..’  I didn’t know if offering help would insult him. But I wanted him to feel at home, and welcome. It was a selfish request too, kind of. ‘My house if right above the shop. The stairs in the back. If you’re ever- I don’t know- in need of help- or maybe just want to hang out..’  

He chuckled. I fell into silence. ‘If I miss you?’ he joked.

I smiled, bit my lip. ‘Then too. If you miss me you can just ring the bell and I’ll come get you.’

‘You’re a crazy guy.’ He turned his eyes back to his book, sighed.

‘Why?’  

‘You trust people too much.’

‘I haven’t trusted “people”, I’m only trusting you.’  

‘Whatever you think is a good idea.’  

But nothing he could say could make me feel like trusting him was not a good idea. I wanted him here, and I didn’t care what would happen because of it. He made me feel good.

 

The next day, around the time that Ash would usually come, the guys who were looking for him ran in again. They were with more people this time.

‘Listen up,’  He said, pointing at me. My customers looked up, worried. ‘We got a hint that Ash was here a few times. We know you’re covering for him.’  

‘I don’t know who you’re talking about, now if you’ll please-’  

‘Don’t fucking pretend. We heard he’s been here every single day.’  

‘From who exactly? I don’t know what reason you’d have to barge into my shop and-’  The guy walked behind the counter, looked to see if Ash was hiding underneath it. Then he walked into the back of the shop, opened the doors of all the toilets.

‘You can look around. I already told you the truth.’  

‘He’s here. Someone saw him going here.’  

‘This someone is apparently not that trustworthy.’  And Ash wasn’t around, for the first time in a week, he wasn’t here during lunchtime. He might have started walking here but gotten distracted. Who knew. I just hoped he wouldn’t walk in now.

‘You sure have a big mouth, asshole.’  The man walked behind the counter again, got close to me, picked me up by my collar. He made me feel small, towering above me and pulling me off my feet with one arm. ‘You better shut the fuck up.’ I did. He pushed me against the counter anyway. Hot coffee fell over, leaked against my back.  ‘Where the fuck is ash?’

When I didn’t answer him, he punched my against my eyebrow. Hard. I bit my lip. ‘This guy almost killed one of our men. He’s a bitch who needs-’  

‘I already told you I-’ He punched me again, against my lip now. I went on anyway. ‘I really, really don’t know.’  

He let go of me with one last rough push. I fell onto the counter, making a pot matcha and one full of candy fall over. They broke against the floor. He turned around to walk away. ‘Whatever. Faggot.’

‘Excuse me?’

He turned around, his eyes snapped back to me, ready to kill. ‘Got a problem?’  

My heartbeat in my forehead. I slowly shook my head, hated myself for doing so. Still, because of that they let me be, and finally left the store.

The customers were staring at me. Some had moved, left, or hid themselves. ‘I’m sorry,’ I told them. ‘I’m going to cool my face for a second. Excuse the long wait. I-’  I didn’t know what more to say. I got one of my towels and put some of the ice I usually used for iced coffee inside of it. I could feel my face bruising. I felt my eyebrow most, hoped that it wouldn’t be thick when ask for in. My back was burning. I pulled out my shirt, but that didn’t help muck.

 _This guy almost killed one of our men._ The words kept ringing through my mind. I wondered if Ash really had. These guys had probably deserved to get their ass beat up, but killed? Ash wouldn’t go that far, right?

With one hand on my icepack, I started making the coffee the people were waiting for. I managed, clumsily. One cup of coffee took me a long time.

That’s when Ash walked in. Just when I was clumsily making coffee, with an icepack on my head, with the broken pots still behind the counter.

‘What the hell happened here?’ He asked. ‘What are you doing, that looks terrible?’

‘I’m making coffee.’

He dropped his bag and walked behind the counter. He stared at the shards for a second, but was quick to take the boiling water from me. ‘Let me be your hands.’ he mumbled. I couldn’t help but nod at his offer. ‘Sit down.’  He ordered me. So I did. I looked at him pouring a little bit of the coffee. He did it perfectly, no need to tell him how to do it. He had obviously studied the way I did it. And, as the genius he was, he mimicked it perfectly.

‘So, what the hell happened here?’ He was frowning. He looked at my lip.

Nervous under his gaze, I licked my lip. I tasted like blood. ‘Nothing much..’

‘Shut up. Tell me the truth.’ he sounded angry.

No.. more than angry. Worried?

‘Eh-’  

‘I know it has to do with me. Don’t try to hide it because you don’t want to hurt my god damn feelings.’ That gave me a fright. The reason he looked so troubled was because he knew. He knew that this was because of him. Maybe he hated himself for it. Maybe he had known all along that something like like would happen.

‘T-those guys who were chasing you last time.. but with more people.’  

He finished the cups of coffee.  ‘Eiji-’  
I got up and brought the coffee to the customers, ignoring Ash. The customers asked if I was okay. I thanked them.

‘Eiji, look at me,’ Ash said when I walked back.

I put the bag of ice off the bar and back on my head, took the broomstick, and started getting all the shed’s together with one hand. ‘It’s not your fault, Ash. It’s really fine.’

‘Eiji.. You.. you’re fucking hurting stop working for a second!’

That made me stop in my pase. Ash looked at me more intensely than he had ever done. His green eyes were intense, big. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was obvious that he cared. He cared a lot what had happened to me.

He wouldn’t hurt me.

I was convinced.

_He almost killed one of our men._

‘Alright. Ash.. maybe we can.. close the shop after these customers leave.’

‘Yes. You should do that.’  

I nodded, started sweeping again.

‘Eiji- fucking- stop please. Hand me that broom.’  

I couldn’t help but listen to him. He took the broom from my hands, grabbed my by my wrist and sat me down on the chair. His eyes still intense, focussed on my bruises. More than the bruises, his stare burned into my skin.

Ash walked to the door and turned the closing sign around. Then he closed the curtains half the way. He turned to the customers and said: ‘Take your time drinking your coffee. We’re closing after that, but please don’t let that worry you.’  Like a real professional. Made me think that maybe I should just let him work here, in this coffee shop.

He got all the sheds. Cleaned the counter. Threw away some of the cookies, and gathered the ones that didn’t get dirty, and eventually made a cup of coffee. For me. He put the sesame mochi next to my cup, and handed it to me carefully.  ‘Are you dizzy, feel weak?’

‘Not really, just the bruise that hurts.’ I didn’t dare to tell him about the coffee that had burned my back.

‘I’ll get the fucker you did this to you..’  

I didn’t dare to let it sink in what that meant. Him saying things like that made me afraid. Not of him, necessarily, ut for him. ‘Ash?’

‘Hm?’

‘Can we go upstairs when I’m finished?’  I wanted to talk to him in a private space.

He nodded slowly. He knew.

 

He held my hand and walked up the stairs first. As if he had to lead me the way to my own house. I liked the feeling of his hand around mine, didn’t say anything about the fact he had no idea where he was going. I guess he wanted to show me that he was ready to talk about it. Or that he was ready to show me a bit more, at least.

The first room we walked into was my living room. It was small; there was a couch, a television, one chair, and a few shelves. Around the table there were pillows to sit on, because I didn’t like eating on the couch or the dining table.

Ash sat down on the couch, kicked off his shoes right away. I took off my shoes too, took his, and then put them near the door. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled.

‘No I’m glad. Japanese people never leave their shoes on, but I don’t like asking people here to do the same.’

He chuckled, didn’t say anything more about it. I saw him stretching his leg, all the way to his toes. After that he cracked his neck.  
I sat down next to him.

He stared at my face, at my lips. I wondered if he wanted to kiss me. He didn’t look away for even a second. Still.. He didn’t seem as cocky as he usually was. ‘Does is hurt?’

‘Hm?’

‘When you fell from heave- what do you think? Your bruises idiot.’

Oh. So that’s what the stare was about. ‘It’s fine.’

‘You’re allowed to laugh about my jokes, you know? Specially if your fine.’

‘I’m not fine.’  

‘You just-’

‘My bruises are alright.’   He shut his mouth, frowned. ‘Ash-’ I swallowed. ‘ Why.. Did you- Is it true?’

‘Say it.’

‘You know what I mean, right?’

‘But if you can’t even say the word you definitely can’t handle the answer.’  

I swallowed. Nodded slowly. ‘Did- Did you try to kill a man?’  

He put his own arms around himself. Breakable, suddenly. ‘Killing was not really my goal. Just- making sure he couldn’t do anything anymore.’

I moved closer to him. He looked up, quickly, surprised. ‘Why?’  

‘You don’t want to know.’

‘I really do, and I really really won’t judge you whatever the answer is.’

Ash looked away, avoiding my eyes. I put my hand on his knee, wanted to whisper that it was alright. Wanted him to know that I trusted him to never do anything to me.  ‘I-’ he started confident, then his words faded. ‘He- he had assaulted me.. before.. and he tried to do.. he tried to rape me.’ He snorted painfully sarcastic. ‘Got pretty far too, that asshole.’

I let my hand slide off his knee. Swallowed. Wondered what to say. ‘I-’  

‘Don’t.’  What? Then what did he want me to- ‘Don’t suddenly let go of me now, like I’m disgusting.’  

‘That’s not what I meant.’

‘Whatever. Whatever the reason was. Me being raped is a reason for you to let go, to back off.’

‘Ash- it’s not.’  

‘You’re full of shit.’  He was looking at his hands. His voice was so aggressive but he was making himself smaller and smaller. It hurt me to see him like that. He was beautiful.

‘Ash..’  

‘What Eij-’ I took his neck quickly, his eyes widened because of it, and before he could say anything about it I pulled him towards me. I put my forehead on his softly but steady.

‘Ash.. shut up.. please.’ That was the last thing I said before moving closer to him, pushing my lips on his softly, hasistant.

Which turned out to be unnecessary. Ash reacted right away, moving closer to me instantly. He took a handful of my hair and turned my head slightly, deepened the kiss. I tried to hold him carefully, like I could hurt him. He reached out to the hand I had had on his knee, put it back on his upper leg and squeezed it with his hand on mine.

He bit my lip softly. Grinned in between kisses. Alright, so, so much for being shy and careful.

I held onto his leg, caressed his neck and ear with my other hand. He tasted like dark coffee. I probably smelled like it. His lips were so damn soft when he kissed me softer; almost just caressed my lips with his. It was like I was dreaming. I didn’t know I could experience such feelings, I didn’t know skin could feel like this.

But then he pulled back. Not far. Just so that his lips were not touching mine anymore. I let out a surprised noise. He chuckled.  He put his nose against mine and moved from left to right. I felt warmth spreading through my chest at the soft gesture. He was so real here, with me. I moved my head upward a bit, then kissed his nose. It was the softest touch I had ever given anything or anyone.

He put his forehead back on mine, closed his eyes and breathe. Just a breath, and another. Slowly, and every time he did the smile on his face because a little more open.

‘Ash..’ I held his face against mine, touched his neck, my thumb against his ear.

‘Hm?’   

‘I’m on your side.’  

‘Yeah?’  

‘Hmh.. yeah.’

‘You’re an idiot.’

‘I don’t care.’

 

‘Ash, can you make those two coffees?’  

Ash walked through the door of our house, yawning. His hair was still a mess from our pillows, even though his clothes looked neat. He looked confused, a little tired. He was still not used to going to bed before 2am, so often he laid awake. ‘I just got up.’

I turned around the egg I was cooking. The bell of the shop rang, two people walked in. I smiled. ‘Welcome, please take a seat.’ I took two slices of bread. Opened the fridge to get some salad. Didn’t even look at Ash while saying: ‘Please, _babe.._ ’  

‘Alright then, I’m on it, _onii-san_.’

‘Stop calling me that, it’s weird.’  

‘Alright, _Commander._ ’

I chuckled. ‘Go get them, _Boss_. Go make some really good coffee.’

‘ _Boss_ again?’  

‘Coffee!’  

He moved behind the counter, got out a bag of coffee. ‘Now that’s a good nickname.’ He kissed my cheek softly. He smelled like our bed. Really made me want to go back and lay down with him the entire day. Close the shop. Just hold the beautiful blond man into my arms the entire day.  ‘I’ll make you a cup too. You look like you need it,’ Ash mumbled.

I moaned jokingly. then put the omelette on a plate. ‘You’re perfect, you know that?’ I put salad next to the omelette, cut some of the veggies, strew some nuts on top of it. When I was satisfied with how it looked, I got the breakfast to the customer. Grinned way too bright for someone just handing out a breakfast deal. Just because Ash was here. ‘One omelette?’

‘Andd- one coffee.’  I heard from behind me. Ash put the coffee on the table, stood close to me, touched my hip while doing so. He grinned when we turned around. ‘I’m really getting the hang of this. I might take over the business.’  

‘Oh shut up.’

‘Just kidding. I made you some coffee. _’_

 _‘_ Thanks _Boss.’_

 _‘_ Oh my god, how many times do I have to-’  

I interrupted him by kissing him. Our grins getting in the way of the kiss, but I guess those were the best kinds of kisses. When we pulled back our noses were still touching. ‘Thank you, Ash.’

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed that! Comments make my day. 
> 
> You can find me on  
> IG @theekom  
> TUMBLR @alternateuniverse-coffeeshop


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